Chapter 198: Confiscating the Anguo Mansion

Such manifestos reached the capital, where courtiers were experiencing the wrath of Emperor Jiaxing.

Emperor Jiaxing sat upright on the dragon throne and threw the surrender document sent by Xuzhou directly under the kneeling ministers: "Asshole, Lu, this traitor, has obviously been harboring evil intentions for a long time, but he speaks so high-soundingly, which is extremely hateful."

"How did I come to the throne unjustly? I am the crown prince appointed by the previous emperor. It is legitimate for me to ascend the throne. Why should I kill my father? And this natural disaster, is this something I can control? Can you control it? The world is so big, where has not suffered from natural disasters? Why did I cede the two states? Isn't it for the people of Daqian? Are we all going to die together?"

And how is he incompetent? He had just ascended the throne and had to endure these terrible wars without even a break. How is he incompetent?

Why don’t you talk about Dayan’s shameless violation of the treaty, and why don’t you talk about the horror of the Wu clan of Qi?

Emperor Jiaxing was filled with rage, and he vented it all on the entire court.

The court officials knelt on the ground in silence. They knew that their Majesty could not be blamed. However, the pit was dug by the late emperor. As the late emperor's son, he must bear the wrath of the Anguo Mansion.

Lu Jin did nothing wrong, but your late emperor forced him to resign and retire without any investigation. And Lu Zhen died on the battlefield. No one knows whether he was really killed by the enemy or secretly killed by your late emperor's men. Who can tell for sure?

Also, the Anguo Mansion has only two young heirs. One is a playboy and not to be feared, and the other finally has an heir who can establish the family. Your father sent him to Yanzhou, a remote and dangerous place, and even let Lu Zhanyan lead the Lu family army to Xuzhou to die.

Everyone knows Sima Zhao's heart.

So what if this manifesto is exaggerated?

And wasn't it you, Your Majesty, who first suggested sending Lu Zhanyan to Xuzhou to die?

The Duke of Anguo has been loyal for generations, but now he has ended up like this. If he doesn't rebel, will he wait to be hunted down and killed by you, the Chu family?

Who can be blamed for this?

Most of the people in the court are literati. Regardless of whether the statement in the manifesto is true or false, the actions of the Chu father and son are not as kind as the Chu ancestors. The Anguo Mansion can no longer tolerate it. What's wrong with rebellion?

Most of the literati were so shocked that their bodies and minds numbed when they read the last four sentences of the manifesto. What a great way to establish a mind for heaven and earth, a mission for the people, to carry on the unique knowledge of the ancient sages, and to bring peace to the world for all generations. This kind of unique knowledge was what they yearned for.

Many officials who admired these four ancestral precepts of the Lu family had already changed sides in their hearts, believing that only an emperor who worked for the country and the people was worthy of their following.

Especially for Lord Mei, the manifesto happened to fall in front of him. Now Lord Wei and Prime Minister Su, the two assistant ministers, had gone to quell the rebellion, and he happened to be in front. After the manifesto fell to the ground, it spread out in front of him. No matter how many times he read it, he was extremely shocked by the last four sentences.

This is the lord he should follow. Compared to the incompetent and furious man sitting on the dragon throne, he still prefers his lord.

Of course, there were also people who were dissatisfied with Lu Zhanyan, such as the Minister of Justice, the emperor's father-in-law, Shangshu Zhong. They had worked hard to become members of the royal family, so how could they be willing to let Lu Zhanyan succeed in his rebellion and then fall from their high positions?

So he said, "Your Majesty, calm down. Lu Zhanyan has evil ambitions and has been planning a rebellion for a long time. That's why he dares to be so rampant. Now Dayan and Qi are eyeing our country covetously, but Lu Zhanyan ignores the invasion of foreign enemies and turns his spearhead against our dynasty, not caring about the lives of the common people. He is really a selfish person. We should take this as an example and issue a letter to fight back against Lu Zhanyan and make him ashamed!"

Elder Mei glanced indifferently at the Minister of Justice next to him and continued to play dumb. He could not reveal his intentions yet. Everything would be decided after the main attack force returned to the capital.

The same went for other officials who defected, all of whom acted like quails to avoid angering the emperor.

The royal family and several officials who sent their daughters to the palace to become concubines all praised the Minister of Justice for his words.

Emperor Jiaxing's expression eased a little: "Approved!!"

Then someone else suggested that since Anguo Duke Lu Zhanyan had the intention of being a traitor, his mansion should be confiscated and his property should be ransacked!

Emperor Jiaxing's eyes lit up. After all, Duke Anguo had been passed down from the founding of the country to the present day, and he must be extremely wealthy, which was just enough to make up for the shortfall of the Ministry of Revenue from this year's war.

Therefore, he issued an order that the Duke of Anguo, who had evil ambitions and was plotting rebellion, should be stripped of his title and all his property should be confiscated, as he had brought shame upon the ancestors of the Chu family.

The matter was handed over to the Minister of Punishment. When Minister Zhong led a group of officers and soldiers to search the Anguo Mansion, they found that the Anguo Mansion had long been deserted. There was only a gust of cold wind blowing up a leaf, a desolate feeling. This...

The Anguo Mansion is overgrown with weeds, and it has probably been uninhabited for some time.

Of course, Minister Zhong knew that Lu Zhanyan went to Xuzhou to take up the post, that Lu Jin and his wife took their third daughter to find a miracle doctor to treat her legs, and that the second playboy Lu Zhanxing took his pregnant wife to relax because of the death of his grandfather.

But who would have known that the Duke of Anguo's Mansion didn't even keep a single servant, which showed that they had already made up their minds to rebel. As soon as the old Duke left, they all found various excuses to leave the capital.

Shangshu Zhong went to the Ministry of Revenue to check the property situation of the Duke of Anguo's Mansion. He was shocked to find that all the properties had been sold and nothing was left.

Even all the farms owned by the Duke of Anguo were sold to Sun Qiming, the son of the Minister of Rites, who is now the son-in-law of the King of Wu.

All the servants in the Duke of Anguo's Mansion were also sold to County Lady Wu Lanxi.

Minister Zhong was so angry that his face turned gloomy. When he went to court, he impeached Prince Wu, the Minister of Rites and the Anguo Mansion for colluding with each other. In order to protect the Anguo Mansion's property, they transferred all of Anguo's property to Sun Qiming and County Lady Wu Lanxi.

I request Your Majesty to severely punish the King of Wu and the Minister of Rites.

Although Emperor Jiaxing was angry that the Duke of Anguo's Mansion was well prepared, he was still hesitant to take action against the son-in-law of the Prince of Wu's Mansion.

The Minister of Rites cried out for injustice on the spot, claiming that the Minister of Punishments was talking nonsense. His son was just playing with the dandy boys and did not participate in the rebellion, so how could he be in cahoots with them?

Mei Ge Lao's people also stood up to speak for the Minister of Rites, thinking that the Minister of Justice had implicated others without reason and was jealous of Sun Qiming for getting these properties.

Not only the Minister of Justice was jealous, but the Emperor Jiaxing was also jealous. However, he was also a little hesitant. If he took action against the people in the Prince Wu's Mansion as soon as his father died, wouldn't that be too bad?

The Emperor Jiaxing could only say that the matter could be discussed later.

Although the King of Wu was a leisurely prince who did not have to attend court, he had not been alone in the court for many years. After hearing the news, he felt a pang in his heart and went to ask his daughter and son-in-law about the situation. He learned that they had indeed bought the property of the Duke of Anguo's Mansion.

Because they had a good relationship with Lu Zhanxing, they bought them at cheap prices.

After weighing the pros and cons, the King of Wu felt that Lu Zhanyan might succeed in his rebellion. So if he contributed now, and his son-in-law was on good terms with the second son of the Duke of Anguo's Mansion, perhaps the King of Wu's Mansion could prosper for another hundred years.

After all, his father saved the late emperor, who is now dead and forgotten. Naturally, the Prince of Wu's Mansion is not as good as before. If Emperor Jiaxing dislikes him, he might find a reason to stop him from occupying the palace?

Therefore, this was an opportunity for the Wu Palace to continue its glory. The King of Wu gritted his teeth and decided to take the gamble.